VOA标准英语2009年-Palestinians Agree on Elections, but Stumbling

Palestinian factions¹, meeting in Cairo to iron out long-standing grievances² have agreed to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010.

Palestinian negotiators have agreed to hold new parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010, and talks continue in the Egyptian capital to reconcile the feuding³ Fatah and Hamas factions and form a new national unity⁴ government.

The Egyptian government, which is overseeing the negotiations⁵, is pushing to get the rival factions to resolve their differences. The talks are expected to continue Tuesday.
　
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, with Nabil Shaath (File)

Fatah negotiator Nabil Sha'ath indicated the talks had made progress over "some details", while others "remain to be resolved," before a final report can be drafted.

Five committees, including each of the key Palestinian factions, have been meeting to work out an agreement over a new unity government, presidential and parliamentary elections, inter-Palestinian reconciliation⁶, and the restructuring of security forces.

As talks in Cairo continued, the European Union called for the quick formation of a unity government, and the reopening of passages into Gaza, in order to begin rebuilding the war-torn territory.

European officials met in Brussels with Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, acting⁷ Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Maliki, and Jordanian officials to discuss the reconciliation issue.

Last month more than $5-million was raised by international donor⁸ states to rebuild Gaza during a conference in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el Sheikh. But the donors⁹ said forming a new government is critical for the rebuilding to begin.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told al-Jazeera TV that "relative progress has been made over key issues," and that he hoped an overall agreement "will be reached soon."

Arab League spokesman Hesham Yussif indicates that talks are progressing in a positive manner.

"The environment in which these talks are taking place is a positive environment and progress has been achieved on all fronts in relation to the five committees that were formed to address the various elements of disagreements between different Palestinian political forces," said Yussif. "There are a few issues that are remaining, particularly in relation to the formation of the government."

Analyst¹⁰ Emad Gad¹¹, of the Al Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, says the formation of a new government is not a simple matter and could take a long time to resolve.

"I think that the main problem is the new government, so till now they do not reach an agreement concerning the new government, will it be a factional government or just a technocrat¹² government," said Gad, "so, I think this is the main issue. Concerning the new elections, I think they will not go to the elections, it will be postponed¹³ many times, but, the main issue will be the Palestinian government."

Hamas and the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been at odds¹⁴ since an agreement to form a unity government reached in Mecca in February 2006 fell apart. Hamas over-ran the Gaza Strip shortly thereafter in June of 2006.

1 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

2 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 gad   

n.闲逛；v.闲逛

参考例句：

• He is always on the gad.他老是闲荡作乐。
• Let it go back into the gloaming and gad with a lot of longing.就让它回到暮色中，满怀憧憬地游荡吧。

12 technocrat   

n.技术人员，技术官僚

参考例句：

• He is a distant technocrat who is unable to connect with ordinary voters.作为一个冷淡的技术官僚，他不能做到与普通选民息息相通。
• Jack Lew,the new budget director,is the quintessential technocrat.新预算主管杰克·卢就是一个典型的技术官僚。

13 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

14 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？